Now that you know WHAT looping is….I’m sure your next question is…”How do I GET into looping?” This is the question I am asked the most once someone finds out I loop. This is a tricky one. Most people that want to loop do not even REALLY know what it is…they’ve just heard it’s this awesome gig that you can make “on camera” money doing voice work…even getting residuals. Looping is a really big “Dog Eat Dog” world. Not that any actor gig isn’t! But looping is extremely hard to break into. The same handful of people work with ALL the loop groups out there and if you aren’t one of those handful of people in demand…well, good luck!
That being said, there are a few pieces of advise I do have…first make sure you KNOW your stuff. Make sure you are comfortable in front of a mic, you can improv, switch your voice up, and know the looping terms. (I will go into depth on these in later posts) The best way to get hired is to either be fluent in many languages (Hot ones right now are Arabic, Urdu, Pashto, Farsi…pretty much most of the Middle Eastern languages. If you can speak these, and speak English with no accent, all the better-they only have to use ONE actor contract on you instead of hiring two people) OR ask to be politically hired by your friends.(you’ll need to be friends with someone who can do this for you, obviously) A “political hire” is someone that knows the producer/director/lead actor/etc on the film or series and they go to bat and TELL the loop group leader that they need to hire YOU. (This can be VERY annoying to the loop group leaders so make sure you are GOOD and the person you know needs to have the power to make this stick as well)
There are MANY loop groups out there. DO your research. Use google, LA 411, voice over resources, etc! When you’re ready, make a connection or have a friend introduce you. Like any actor job, it takes patience and dedication…good luck, and BREAK A LEG 🙂